The transition of the payment system of Kazakhstan to the international standard ISO 20022 has become one of the most significant stages in the modernization of the country's financial infrastructure. This step strengthened the technological stability of national payment services and brought them closer to the best world practices.
Work on the implementation of the standard began jointly with the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During this time, a transition concept was formed, training seminars were held for financial market participants, and a test environment was created that allowed banks, government agencies and other participants to adapt their own information systems.
The key moment was January 13, 2025 - the date when the National Bank and all participants in the payment system synchronously switched to the use of MX message formats. Such a one-time transition required a high degree of readiness and coordination of all market participants.
A special role in this process belonged to the State Treasury Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The information systems of the Treasury have been significantly modernized: more than 100 payment message formats have been redesigned, services for serviced organizations have been adapted, compatibility with the infrastructure prepared by the National Payment Corporation JSC has been ensured. The Treasury was one of the first government agencies to successfully complete the introduction of new formats and confirm its technological readiness to work in an updated environment.
Why ISO 20022 is important for Kazakhstan ISO 20022 has long become an international standard for the exchange of financial messages, which is gradually being introduced by the world's leading markets - the countries of the European Union to the countries of Southeast Asia.
Kazakhstan, having become the first Central Asian country to decide on the implementation of this standard, has actually opened its way to more effective participation in global financial processes. This simplifies cross-border settlements, speeds up interaction with foreign banks and increases the country's attractiveness for international partners.
Benefits from ISO 20022 The key benefits of the new standard are already visible to market participants. First, ISO 20022 allows you to transfer significantly more information in one transaction. Payment messages now contain detailed information about the payer, recipient, purpose of payment and related documents. This granularity improves the accuracy of transactions and reduces the likelihood of errors, ensuring transparency in all stages of payment processing. Secondly, the standard ensures the unification of formats and creates a single language for all types of financial transactions - from ordinary payments to transactions with securities. This facilitates interaction between banks, government agencies and international payment systems, making processes more coherent and technological.
In addition, ISO 20022 significantly strengthens the capabilities of financial transactions. Structured and data-rich messages help more accurately and quickly conduct AML/CFT, KYC and sanctions monitoring checks. With tighter global regulations, this is becoming a critical element of financial security.
Finally, the new standard significantly increases the level of automation. Thanks to the use of XML structures and integration with modern APIs, transaction processing becomes faster, more accurate and less dependent on manual intervention. This takes financial processes to a whole new level of efficiency.
Aliya Baigenzhina
Deputy Chairman of the State Treasury Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan